The Dream is Over
by Phazon Droid
Summary: After failing to retrieve Sasuke once again, a debilitated Team 7 heads back to Konoha empty handed and empty hearted, until Sai gives his input on the situation.


**Phazon:** I've never been a fan of the good guy gone bad who still manages to turn back to good due to some coincidence or getting the stuffing beat out of them, so I'm putting this up. It originally began as a topic I was discussing on the Naruto Fan forums and I received mixed feedback. Nonetheless, this is Sai's input right after the new Team Kakashi have failed to retrieve Sasuke.

_Disclaimer:_ Of course I do not own the Naruto characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and him only. All I own is this fan fiction, and that's it, so don't sue!

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There wasn't a word uttered on the long walk back to Konoha as Sai watched his two teammates.

"Even if I had to break all of the bones in his arms in legs, I said I'd bring him back."

Though Sai had received explanations from both Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto, he still couldn't get over what he was hearing. Finally, he came to a halt.

"I still don't understand."

Yamato stopped in his tracks, as did the other two shinobi.

"Time and time, I've tried to understand _why_ you two obsess over Sasuke-kun, and despite this one's ramblings," he pointed to Naruto, "and this one's lovesick obsession," he said to Sakura, "you do not have me convinced."

Naruto snorted and kicked the dirt. "Friends don't betray their comrades for power."

"That's only your definition of what a friend doesn't do. Look, Naruto, I wasn't around when you, Sakura-san, and Sasuke-kun were all a happy team. I wasn't there when you went on those missions and fought alongside one another, and I certainly wasn't there to see you two fight to the death."

"So what's your point?" Naruto asked, growing impatient.

"My point is leave well enough alone!" Sai exclaimed in a rare show of anger. "Sakura-san, you told me that Naruto and Sasuke are like brothers. After seeing how this blonde here acted when he saw Sasuke, I would agree with you. Bonds, bonds, if I had to identify you three by a single word, that would be it. If the shit for brains who went to Orochimaru for power and doesn't want to come back, you shouldn't try to stop him."

"Why you--" Sakura charged forward and was ready to knock Sai's lights out, but unlike the last time, Sai saw her coming and easily evaded the punch. The pink haired kunoichi turned around and tried again, only to be held back by Yamato.

"Easy, Sakura," he said, his grip tightening. "Don't do something you'll end up regretting."

Sai looked to Naruto. "Naruto, your dream is to become the greatest Hokage and have everyone in the world acknowledge your strength, isn't that correct?"

There was no need for a reply. Naruto just put on his trademark smile and laughed. Obviously, word was spreading quickly.

"Well, you're contradicting yourself if you think you can just take Sasuke back by force."

The smile faded instantly.

Sai sat down on a rock and twiddled his thumbs. "Naruto, you wouldn't let anything stop you from becoming Hokage, correct? You'd do anything humanly possible in order to reach that plateau you've wanted to attain since you were younger. Basically, it's your lifelong dream."

Sakura broke free from Yamato's grasp and quickly grabbed Sai by his collar. "Listen here, you! Naruto would never think of turning his back on his friends in order to become Hokage! Unlike Sasuke, he cares deeply about the bonds he forms with his friends and knows that they mean everything to him! Who the hell do you think you are, trying to compare Sasuke's goal to Naruto's?"

"You said that the two are like brothers," Sai calmly replied, never losing his composure, despite nearly being choked by Sakura, "so wouldn't it make sense to compare the two?"

_You were alone from the very start! So why the hell would you know what I've been through? Huh?!_

Naruto couldn't erase that fight from his memory. Every time he tried to black it out, it played again. He snapped out of it and returned to reality.

"You cannot say, 'I want to become Hokage and I'll take whatever risks' and everything's fine, but at the same time, 'I want to get power so I can kill my brother who destroyed my entire clan, and will do anything, even if it means submitting to darkness' is bad. Naruto, you are in no position to force your beliefs and principles on Sasuke and convince him that going to Orochimaru for power is a bad thing. Both Orochimaru and Itachi began in Konoha, yes, and that would possibly be a reason for Sasuke to stay. At the same time, shouldn't one do whatever it takes to reach their goal, despite the consequences?"

For once, Naruto didn't have an answer on the spot. A good percentage of possible responses had been shot down, and Sai wasn't done yet.

"Naruto…has Sasuke ever once criticized you on your dream of becoming Hokage?"

Even Sakura let go of her rage and ponder. Out of all of the hateful, though meaningful things that Sasuke has said to insult or encourage Naruto, had any of them pertained to his lifelong dream?

"_Kero ane kayo…bibiri-kun?"_

Sure, Naruto and Sasuke didn't interact like they were brothers, but…those who had close relations to them could tell; the closest being Sakura.

"He's taking the coward's way out!" Naruto spat. "He could've stayed with us and gotten stronger! I could've even shown him how to use Kuchiyose no--"

"That's not where I'm going," Sai interrupted, "and it is cowardice when one gets what they want? Anyone could achieve their goal through hard work, as we've just seen."

"Sasuke's only out for himself," Sakura yelled, her temper rising, "Naruto is different! Naruto's dream wouldn't mean anything if it means he failed to save his best friend in the process. Sasuke only went to Orochimaru for the purpose of getting power so he could Itachi."

"And this is only bad because he's leaving you behind, right? If your bonds are severed, make new friends. One does not maintain their bonds with a single friend forever."

Naruto couldn't hold in his anger anymore. "How the hell would you know that?!" He yelled. "You're so emotionally dead it's not even funny anymore and you didn't even care that your brother died! Shinobi are supposed--"

"To be able to think for themselves and not always act like their being hand held throughout their life. If you really believe that Sasuke is your best friend, that you're willing to let him make hi own decisions and not have you dictate his life to him, let him go." Sai paused impressively.

"'If my arms get ripped off, I'll just kick him to death. If my legs get ripped off, I'll just bite him to death. If my head gets ripped off, I'll just stare him to death. And if my eyes get ripped out, I'll just curse him to death,'" Sai then looked to Naruto.

"Those were your words, correct…Naruto-kun? You want Sasuke to do what's best for you, not for him. Have you ever acknowledged his goal of wanting to get power in order to kill his brother and avenge his clan?

Your motives are selfish, both of you."

Sakura then remembered how she simply confessed her unrequited love for the Uchiha and begged for him to take her with him…just so they could be together. In turn, he knocked her unconscious and left the village with the Sound Four.

Sai walked to the front of the group and paused for a moment before speaking.

"Look, Naruto, Sasuke is apparently very special to you. I won't say I can understand what it's like to lose a best friend, but the Uchiha made it clear he separated all bonds with you to attain power, so he has no interest in you two anymore. Even if you become Hokage and Sasuke's not there to, Kami forbid, cheer you on, you'll know you were better off focusing on your dream instead of constantly interfering with his."

With that, Sai walked onward to Konoha. Yamato looked to Naruto and Sakura.

"You know, we may not know much about him, but he's got experience in this area, judging from that performance."

Yamato was the next to walk on, leaving the two members of Team Kakashi to ponder.

"Maybe he's right," Sakura muttered to Naruto. "We _have_ obsessed over him and never considered how he felt about the entire matter, so…what do you say? Do we let him go?"

Naruto said nothing as he and Sakura walked back towards the Leaf village. He simply replayed the image of Sasuke leaving him and slipping further into the darkness. Cold as ice, this to be the fate of the Uchiha. Before Naruto could fully accept this, he took something out of his pocket and called for Sakura.

"Snap this in half for me so it doesn't plague us anymore," he explained.

Sakura only stared at Naruto wide-eyed as she couldn't believe he'd be willing to part that item, but it was for the best. With her strength, the object broke easily and she tossed it backwards. The two then caught up with Sai and Yamato as they continued the long walk back to Konoha.

Behind them on the earth laid Uchiha Sasuke's scratched forehead protector, snapped in two. The dream of saving a friend was over.

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By the way, "_Kero ane kayo…bibiri-kun?" _ is the line "Are you all right…scaredy-cat?" that Sasuke asked Naruto earlier in the manga. Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed it.


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